The Trump transition team is reportedly compiling a list of key military officers involved in the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan for potential courts-martial and other penalties.
NBC News reported:
The team is investigating whether to convene a commission to examine the withdrawal effort, including whether any actions on the part of these officials rose to the level of treason or other criminal charges.
Two sources told the news outlet that the team could potentially recall members of leadership to active duty and possibly charge them with various offenses.
A person with knowledge of the plan said:
It’s not clear the Trump administration would pursue treason charges, and instead could focus on lesser charges that highlight the officers’ involvement. They want to set an example.
Translation: Deterrence, deterrence, deterrence.
The commission would look into how the United States first invaded Afghanistan and how it eventually withdrew its military forces from the region. The sources told NBC News that Matt Flynn, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, would be heading up the investigation, a detail that Flynn denied through his attorney Mark S. Zaid.
Flynn’s lawyer said his client:
[Has nothing to do with the Trump transition team [and that] no one has sought out Mr. Flynn’s views on this hypothetical legal scenario.
President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the botched withdrawal on numerous occasions and vowed to fire those involved after taking office.
President Donald Trump told a National Guard Association conference Monday he “would can every senior military and diplomatic official involved in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco”—hours after paying tribute to 13 service members who died in an ISIS attack during the botched bugout.
The president-elect told an audience that included part-time soldiers and their families in the Motor City:
Caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, the humiliation in Afghanistan set off the collapse of American credibility and respect all around the world.
[The people] are going to fire Kamala and Joe on Nov. 5, we hope.
Further:
And when I take office we will ask for the resignations of every single official.
And:
We’ll get the resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity, to be on my desk at noon on Inauguration Day.
A House Foreign Affairs Committee’s investigation into the debacle found:
Joe Biden [Read: Obama] prioritized politics and his personal legacy over protecting national security and the troops stationed in the region.
According to the report:
He ignored advisors, misled the public, and took unacceptable risks during the withdrawal.
Members of the committee indicated the president disregarded advice from top military officials, NATO allies, and intelligence agencies.
Biden-Harris have tried to blame Trump for the debacle—which cost 13 American servicemembers their lives and left many more injured—claiming that the “Doha agreement” that the Trump administration had reached with the Taliban regarding withdrawal dates tied their hands.
The problem with the argument is that Biden has previously shown ‘little deference’ to the agreement, and some in Biden’s own administration argued that the Taliban was violating the terms, making it invalid.
A person familiar with Trump’s transition team told NBC News:
[T]he sources theorizing about the commission appear to be your typical selfish Washington, D.C. insiders seeking to gain better positioning for their own administration jobs.
